Politeja (Jul 2016)
Polityka pojęć
Abstract
The politics of concepts. Polish National Democrats and the concept of politics in early 20th century The article undertakes a conceptual analysis of the concept of politics in political writings of Polish National Democracy in the turn of 19th and 20th century. I argue, that due democratization and modernization, it was a time of conceptual change and emergence of modern social and political concepts in Polish. Drawing from conceptual history and rhetorical analysis of topoi, used to express the concept of politics, I investigate National Democratic invention in conceptual rendition of politics. The two major kinds of topoi are: temporal (politics as action); and spatial (politics as sphere). An investigation into their mutual relationshi passists understanding of a major change in National Democratic political thought and practice in that heated period. The gradual prevalence of spatial conceptualization and accompanying depoliticization of political enemies was an important factor in the process of sliding into authoritarian, antidemocratic and elitist understanding of politics among National Democrats in the forthcoming years.
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